Drinking Alone Beneath the Moon 3, Li Bai

Okay, getting back to the rest of this set...


Three months of spring in Xianyang City,
Thousands of flowers like a brocade—
Who can in spring be worried alone?
For facing this I straight must drink.
Both poor and rich, refined and crude,
The Maker has bestowed their places:
One jar makes life and death the same
And all the things so hard to gauge—
Once drunk, I shrug off heaven and earth
And, fainting, just approach my pillow
Not knowing if my body exists:
This is the happiest place of all!

月下独酌 之三
三月咸阳城，
千花昼如锦。
谁能春独愁，
对此径须饮。
穷通与修短，
造化夙所禀。
一樽齐死生，
万事固难审。
醉后失天地，
兀然就孤枕。
不知有吾身，
此乐最为甚。

Xianyang, the capital of Qin before Chang’an was built nearby, was sometimes used as an alternate name for the capital.

So this is better than #2, but not as good as #1.

---L.